High Strung
by Viceroy Elf
Summary: After what just happened, who wouldn't be? Something of an epilogue to "Starcrushed"


**I wrote all this in one go to relieve some tension. Nefcy is a fiend and a scoundrel, but I suppose we have to take the scraps she feeds us.**

High Strung

 _She has a crush on me_

 _She has a crush on me_

 _She has a crush on me_

 _She has a crush on me_

Like a broken record, the thought repeated itself in his head so loud and distracting it drowned out anything else.

The only good thing about this was it distracted from the sadness.

She was gone. Forever, maybe. She was…

She was his best friend. After everything that's been said and done, that will always hold true. His closest confidant, his partner in crime.

And she was gone.

And she had a crush on him.

And she had a crush on him.

Marco, lying in bed, turned over and screamed into his pillow. The hours following Star's confession and departure was the longest period of time he'd gone through, and for someone who spent 30 years in a time condensed dimension, that's saying a lot.

Kids around didn't know whether to bail out of the incredibly awkward atmosphere, or stay and mourn Star's leaving. Everyone in school thought of Star as friendly. They would all be sad to see her leave. At the same time, how do you react to what she did? Confessing that you like a guy in front of a crowd of people, his girlfriend included, and then leaving for another dimension forever?

Oh man Jackie.

She was… oh who can gauge what Jackie Lynn Thomas is feeling? She stayed after with him after everyone else left, along with all of Star's other friends. She hugged him. Told him everything would be alright. She was as sad as everyone else, sure, but Marco felt something else. He felt Jackie might have been upset over more than just Star leaving.

In hindsight, maybe wasn't a good idea to spend all night talking about Star, after having gone to a thing with Star, and then leaving her open-mouthed to talk alone with Star… Look, he's not the most experienced boyfriend.

He caught a glimpse of her reaction when Star confessed. The chill, friendly exterior she usually had waned, and Marco could see that her patience was getting a bit used up.

What does all this mean? The way Star talked, it was like this was really it. She was going home, and never coming back. What would his life be like now? Go to school. Date Jackie. Honor Roll. Black Belt. Get married. Stable income. Retirement.

The list formed in his mind like he'd seen before. Marco's best laid plans for a happy, safe life.

But then Star happened. And he fought monsters, explored the cosmos, talked to disembodied unicorn heads. He'd, quite literally, lived more in these last months than he had in all the years he'd lived before.

All thanks to Star.

Without her? Back to the list.

What if she comes back though? His first thought is it would be awkward, and boy would it. I mean, Star lives with him. He'd see her every day and there's no way he'd be able to not think about her confession. Could they go back to being friends?

If not, then the alternatives would be stop being friends, or…

Marco sunk deeper into his mattress. He remembers the first time he laid eyes on Jackie Lynn Thomas. It was his first day of school and he'd never seen a prettier girl in his life.

Of course it's worth mentioning he didn't actually talk to her.

He blushes when he remembers the nodding. It seemed like the highlight of his life at one point. He remembers how upset and strung up he felt about missing it once.

Star stopped time for him. And even funnier, he didn't run to make that nod. He goofed off with Star in stalled time for hours. By the end that nod was the farthest thing from his mind.

He thinks that he had to pick one, he'd have missed that nod to go hang out with Star every time.

Jackie was the girl of his dreams. He had her, like he always wanted. And she was cool and funny, and wonderful in so many ways, and their relationship was just like he'd planned.

But Star… He could never of planned anything like her. He'd made no room in his life for something like Star, but there she was, taking him so far out of his comfort zone, he wasn't sure he'd ever make it back.

Kind of like how he would have missed that nod without Star, He wouldn't even have Jackie if not for her.

If there was one thing he'd learned from Star, it's that life doesn't always happen according to plan, and sometimes that's not a bad thing.

He didn't plan for Star to be in his life, but he knew a life without her, in any capacity, was not an option.

She was coming back, and he was going to make sure of it. It might be dangerous, and it would most certainly be awkward, but that's still better than lying there and doing nothing.

He opened his bedside drawer. He spent 30 years getting these scissors, and now was the time to use them.

It's gonna long summer.


End file.
